Gamecocks Preview NCAA Regional Play
The South Carolina Gamecocks are ready to embark on a new journey starting on Friday evening, as Mark Kingston's squad will begin postseason play against Central Connecticut State. Due to their relatively early exit in the SEC Baseball Tournament, Carolina got an 8-day break between their last game and their first one of regional play, which according to Mark Kingston, has done wonders for his team.
"I think this team is very rejuvenated. We're treating it like it's opening day," Kingston stated. "It's a new season for everybody but us especially because we struggled a little bit down the line. This is a great chance for us to really start over and [go] on a run."
This year's regional also has a little more meaning for some of the veteran players on South Carolina's squad, particularly Jack Mahoney, who conveyed that his mindset as a player in Columbia changed after not appearing in the postseason last Spring.
"Not having postseason baseball in Columbia last year, I started to understand that that's completely unacceptable with this fanbase and what they expect and what we expect around this program. [The mentality change] started as soon as [last] season ended, and now we're pretty much here a year later and kinda completely flipped it around."
Regarding their opponents for their regional, the team understands that they can't take anyone likely, including the No. 4 seed Central Connecticut State Blue Devils, who, despite their lack of name recognition, have accumulated a good amount of postseason experience over the past few years.
"It's a very good regional, no question about it," Kingston said. "The team we're playing tomorrow has been going to regionals for a while now, so we have a lot of respect for how they go about their business - Campbell and NC State play the game the right way. We respect all the coaches, teams, and players in this regional."
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